自己紹介

Yuji Matsumoto
Master Sake Sommelier
Finalist of the 2nd World Sake Sommelier Competition. Graduated from Keio University Faculty of Law, Department of Political Science. Worked for Nomura Securities for 10 years. Former president of California Sushi Academy Former chief of planning dept. at Mutual Trading. Currently working for Kabuki Restaurant Corp. as a Beverage Manager of Sake.
Kosuke Kuji
Fifth Generation / Brewery Owner
Nanbu Bijin, Inc.
Born May 11, 1972. Entered Tokyo University of Agriculture’s Department of Brewing and Fermentation. In 2005 became the youngest person ever to receive the Iwate Prefecture Young Distinguished Technician Award. In 2006 was selected to be a member of the board of trustees of his local alma mater, Fukuoka High School. Currently is featured in a number of media outlets including magazines, radio, and television.
*Positions of Public Service: Chairperson, Cassiopeia Corporation Youth Conference; School Board Member, Fukuoka High School, Iwate Prefecture, Vice-Chairman, Technology Committee, Iwate Prefecture Brewers and Distillers’ Association.

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“When parents are busy, they are not able to cook meals that require time and effort for children. It may be alright to feed children fast food or frozen foods as long as their stomachs are filled, but parents cannot help feeling guilty doing so. So, my wife (Yuriko Tachibe) thought about the concept of this store, which is to offer healthy bentos that can be easily obtained,” says Shigefumi Tachibe, the owner of “Delicatessen by Osawa” which opened in May of 2017 in Pasadena. As the owner claims, the items in the menu consist of completely preservative-free bentos and side dishes made from scratch. You certainly cannot help noticing Japanese style healthy-looking dishes made mainly with vegetables such as “Gobo & Renkon Kinpira”, “Kale & Spinach Ohitashi”, or “Hari Hari Daikon”. The bento selection under the “Grab & Go” includes “Shokado Bento Box” ($15.75), “Chicken Bento” ($10.95), “Sozai Mix Bento” ($12.75), etc. You can surely find less expensive stuff in Japanese supermarkets; however, as mentioned earlier, the dishes at “Delicatessen by Osawa” never contain preservatives or frozen foods, and everything is made with fresh ingredients, which requires higher cost and labor, thus justifies their price setting. They buy food ingredients from some vendors, but also go and buy from the Farmer’s Market in South Pasadena by themselves.

Mr. Tachibe has worked at Chaya, a well-known California cuisine specialty restaurant, as the executive chef for a long time, and launched the health-conscious M Café under Chaya. After becoming independent, he established a successful Japanese restaurant called Osawa, and then opened the delicatessen in the business district of Pasadena. The kitchen of the delicatessen is led by executive chef Tetsuya Osaki. Chef Osaki has a total of 33 years of experience as a chef in Japan and the US. His talented skills cover all kinds of cuisine from Japanese to Californian.

The interior of the store is natural-themed using plenty of wood, and gives a contemporary feel. There is a counter of side dishes in the back, and you can see the kitchen behind the counter where the chefs are cooking. I heard that all the kitchen staff including chef Osaki enters in the kitchen at 7 o’clock every morning.

I visited the store for the interview before 11 in the morning before the opening time, and tried their most popular dish, the Daily Special. The special of that day was the Loco Moco; on white rice, there was a large-size hamburger patty, which you sure can taste the umami of the meat, with a softly cooked sunny side up style egg on top, and gravy sauce. In the same bowl, there was a salad of sliced cucumber, tomato, and avocado. The set came with a corn chowder that contained cubed vegetables, and was priced at $12.95. It was very satisfying.
Since I enjoyed it so much, I asked Mr. Tachibe, “Can you please open another store in the South Bay area where I live?” He answered, “Actually, we have customers who come all the way from the South Bay area (it takes more than one hour of driving). Such a request comes from not only the South Bay area, but the West Side also. This store is good because it is close to the main restaurant, Osawa, but if it’s far away, it won’t be good because I won’t be able to keep close eyes on it. Oh well, too bad!”

At first, I thought there would be many take-out customers since it is a delicatessen, but in fact, there are many eat-in customers, and I was told that they actually run out of the tables during lunch hours. They used to close at 6 in the evening, but changed it to 7 by request. It seems still too early to accommodate all the requests, so they are planning to extend it to 9 p.m. starting in March. (The interview was done in February.) While I was tasting the Loco Moco, people who looked like regular customers started to come in one after another, and fill the space before the opening time of 11.The store concept, “For the health of families” seems to have been surely conveyed to their customers.